Variable mold for concrete columns.



A. G. HOADLEY. VARIABLE MOLD FOR CONCRETE COLUMNS.

APPLIUATION 111.111) JULY 24,1911.

1 ,096,9 1 4, Patented-Maj 19, 1914.

ARTHUR G. HOADLEY, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK.

VARIABLE MOLD FOR CONCRETE COLUMNS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 24, 1911.

Patented May 19, 1914.

Serial No. 640,232.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ARTHUR G. I'IoAnLnY, a citizen of the United States, residing at 565 East Third street, Mount Vernon, in the county of lVestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Variable Molds for Concrete Columns, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to molds for concrete columns and its novelty consists in the constructionand adaptation of the parts as will be more fully hereinafter pointed out.

In the construction of buildings made wholly, or partly, of reinforced concrete it is usual to provide columns or pillars between the floors. It is obvious that the strain due to compression upon such columns are less upon the upper floors than upon those below, and it is common in the art to build the upper columns of such a series of less crosssectional area than the lower ones. In fact there is usually a gradual decrease in such crosssectional area of the columns as the upper stories are approached. The molds for columns of this character are usually macle of cheap wood for it is customary to reshape the molds for each particular size of columns having substantially the same cross-sectional area, and when the mold for the smallest column has been made the materials used are no longer fit for any similar use and are thrown away.

The purpose of my invention is to provide means whereby the same members or materials may be employed over and over again for molds of different diameter, without undue waste and with a decided economy of time and labor.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a transverse section of a mold embodying my invention; Fig. 2 represents a section of a mold of less diameter, and Fig. 3 represents a mold of yet smaller diameter.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated a mold in which there is adapted to be formed a column having a substantially octagonal shape cross section with rounded corners. This is made up of three species of members, viz. (1) corner pieces 1O, 10 having inner curved surfaces 11 11 and provided with registeu ing means such as a dove-tailed recess 12 at each side, (2) filling pieces 20, 20 having inner plane surfaces 21, 21 and provided with registering means such as projections 22, 22 on each side adapted to fit into the recesses 12, 12 and (3) reinforcing or nailing strips 30 adapted to be secured to either the corner pieces or filling pieces or both to hold them in their relative positions.

It will be noted that the inner surfaces 11, 11 of the corner pieces 10, are preferably made on cylindrical arcs and that the inner surfaces 21 of the fillers 20 are made of plane surfaces practically tangent to the adjacent curved surfaces on each side of any one of them so that when assembled there is substantially no break in the continuity of the inner surface of the mold.

Supposing that the mold shown in Fig. 1 has been used in the construction of columns designed to be used say in the first and sec ond stories of a building and it is desired to construct columns of smaller diameter for say the next two stories. The mold shown in Fig. 1 is disassembled and the filling pieces are each cut down to a smaller size for instance that shown in Fig. 2 and the parts are then reassembled. The result is a mold identical in general form with that shown in Fig. l and constructed of precisely the same materials except the filling strips 20 which have been reduced in width.

Supposing that the molds shown in Fig. 2 have been used in, the construction of columns for one or more stories and it is desired to still further reduce the cross-sectional area of the columns to use in the upper stories. The mold is disassembled and the filling pieces reduced in width as before. or the filling pieces are entirely dispensed with except to fill the recesses formed in the corner pieces as shown at 200 in Fig. 3 in the latter event the nailing pieces 30 being also removed. In this case the inner surfaces 12 of the corner pieces form a cylinder and the column molded therein is circular in cross section.

In reducing the mold from a large to a smaller diameter instead of lessening the width of the filler pieces 20, alternate ones may be omitted or pieces of different widths substituted.

By the construction described it is obvious that the corner pieces 12, 12 may be used over and over again without alteration and that the nailing pieces may be similarly employed while the filling pieces may be used again for columns of the size for which they are adapted or reduced in width for columns of smaller size.

The molds are quickly put together, may

be shipped in knocked down condition and their use involves much less labor than the usual forms of mold common to the art.

It will be understood that changes in the number and contour of the members of the molds may be made without departing from the principle of the invention and that any approved external form of reinforcementmay be used for holding the parts against internal pressure.

What I claim is:

1. An expansible and contractile mold for concrete columns, comprising corner pieces, a plurality of sets of filling pieces, the pieces of each set corresponding in size to produce a column of predetermined cross sectional area and the pieces of the different series being respectively of difierent sizes and de tachably fitting between the corner pieces, forming respectively a mold of varying cross sectional area, and strips detachably mounted on the corner pieces, outside and against the outer faces of the filling pieces.

2. An expansible and contractile mold for concrete columns, comprising corner pieces, a plurality of setso-f filling pieces, the pieces of each set corresponding in size to produce a column of predetermined cross sectional area, and the pieces of the different sets being respectively of difierent sizes and fitting between the corner pieces to form respectively molds of varying cross sectional area.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ARTHUR G. HOADLEY.

\Vitnesses E. W. SOHEBR, J12, irLAN C. McDoNNnLL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

